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Communication and Information Sector's news service

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today condemned the killing in Mexico of Ernesto Montañez Valdivia on 14 July.

“I condemn the murder of Ernesto Montañez Valdivia,” the Director-General declared. “Attacks on journalists threaten respect for the fundamental human right of freedom of expression. The media have an important contribution to make to democracy and rule of law and I urge the authorities to do all they can to find the culprits of crimes against media professionals in the interest of the whole of Mexican society.”

Ernesto Montañez Valdivia, editor of the Enfoque magazine of the El Sol de Chihuahua newspaper, was shot while riding a pickup driven by his teenage son who was also seriously injured in the attack.

According to the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) four other journalists have been murdered in Mexico so far this year.

UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”